Monthly Archives: November 2023

Count Your Blessings

As we just celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, we are all still recovering from the overeating, the family gatherings, and the cleaning up the mess. Thanksgiving Day is a day to be thankful for all God has blessed us with. Every day we should give thanks, but it is good to have a day set aside to remind us.


As we were making the long drive back home from Missouri, I was reflecting on the many blessings God has given me, and it wasn’t long, I lost count of the many, many blessings. I enjoyed time off work to visit family and friends. I enjoyed some rest and down time. I enjoyed a wonderful feast of all the things I love to eat and had many leftovers. And I must say, I enjoyed the desserts!

I was reminded of the verse which says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with who there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17). God has truly blessed me, and I kept counting my blessings.

The hymn writer, Johnson Oatman in 1897, penned these powerful words:

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

There are the obvious things we are blessed with such as our family, our friends, our salvation, good health, and all the things we often think of. But my mind wondered even further, and I realized how blessed I truly am. I am truly surprised at what the Lord has done!

And I kept counting.

I am blessed to serve as the Disaster Relief Director for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, serving alongside some amazing teammates and remarkable volunteers.

I am blessed to be a part of the work of the Lord through my local church, through the Kentucky Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention, working together through the Cooperative Program.

I could go on and on listing how God has blessed me, but rather than looking at my list, begin to count your own blessings, and you will be surprised at what the Lord has done.

Oh, Give Thanks to the Lord

This week marks the celebration of Thanksgiving.  Turkey, dressing, and desserts will be devoured on Thursday.  Families will gather to eat and give thanks.  But why?  For Americans, we give thanks for many reasons, not least of which is our freedom to live in a land that is free (for now) to worship without the dictates of government.  Giving thanks is not a new idea; it’s actually rooted in a Judeo-Christian worldview.

Both the Old and New Testament calls us to give thanks to the Lord.  For example, the people of Israel were to give thanks to the Lord when King David brought the ark of God to the city of Jerusalem.  The ark symbolized the presence of God among His people. The day that the ark arrived in Jerusalem was a day of great celebration. 

The writer of 1 Chronicles 16 records for us the song of thanksgiving that was offered to God on that momentous day. 

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.  Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders.  Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.  Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.  Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done, His marvels and the judgments from His mouth” (vv 8-12). 

Giving thanks is a normal response of the people of God in the Old Testament to who God is and what He has done for them.  The people of Israel are to give thanks for what God has done for them, so that the peoples (other nations) would know this one true God.

Thanksgiving to God, therefore, is not only to be vertical but also horizontal.  In other words, our thanks is to be directed to God as a testimony to others of who He is and what He does.  While we give our thanks to God for what He has done for us, we do so in order that the nations might know what He has done on their behalf. 

So give thanks to the Lord this season of Thanksgiving, but do so in order that you might “make known His deeds among the peoples.”  As you give thanks to God for all He has done for you, remember to make Him known to those who yet do not know Him.

We all have family, friends, and neighbors who need to hear of the wonderful deeds of the Lord.  So give thanks, and in so doing make Him known.   

God-Given Missions Potential

I was speaking recently to the pastor of a small Kentucky church that was doing a great job engaging their local community with gospel focused ministry.  I celebrated all that God was doing and how exciting it was to witness the congregation’s concern for their neighbors.

I then asked my pastor friend about the church’s missions involvement nationally and internationally.  To my surprise and disappointment, he shared that they were too small to do anything internationally, but hoped someday they could. I reminded my friend that God had gifted his church with missions potential and that it was possible for a small church (his terminology, not mine) to be engaged strategically in international missions.  

Here are some of the things I shared that every church should consider.

  1. Adopt a missionary – work with the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s missions strategists or the International Mission Board to discover a missionary they can adopt.  Adoption is a beautiful word that describes the strong relationship between missionaries and churches who pray and encourage them in their ministries. Adoption provides a heightened awareness and a strengthened commitment to missions, personal relationship with an active missionary, regular communication and occasional Zoom calls or pre-recorded videos played during a worship service.
  2. Partner with others –planning and implementing an international missions experience may seem daunting to one church, but partnering together with other churches or the local Baptist Association makes going a real possibility.  Multiple churches can share resources and provide strategically gifted volunteers when one single church can’t. 
  3. Provide housing and transportation when missionaries are state-side – most missionaries will return to the state every 3-4 years and remain here for a couple of months visiting family and taking care of ministry responsibilities.  A church can turn an unused parsonage into a missions house for visiting missionaries.  This makes their time in the states so much more restful. Contact Kentucky WMU to learn more about how to provide a missions house for missionaries.
  4. Pray for missionaries and the nations – this is the most important way to support those God has called to serve as international missionaries.  It is something that every church can do. Pray for the spiritual, physical and mental health of missionaries serving, and the lost people they minister to.  The mission of advancing the gospel is the great work of the church, and prayer is the engine that moves it. 

God has equipped your congregation with gifts, talents and resources that are of extreme value to missions engagement and advancement of the Great Commission. A church of any size can be involved in international missions, but whether they do so is up to them.  Every church has exciting missions potential – no matter its size.  Will your church measure up to its potential?